Cancer from a Comedian’s Point of View

by John David Sidley

When I first found out I was going
to get chemotherapy, I went out and got
my head shaved, figuring I was going to
beat them to the punch. Then I found out
the drugs I was going to take didn’t have
that side effect. Hey! Tell a guy!

That’s a joke. One of many I started
writing and performing after I was diagnosed
with stage IV colon cancer. Yeah,
stage IV. When I heard that, I thought,
Oh, that’s not so bad. It could be stage X.
What? It only goes up to stage IV?

Another joke. You see, I’m a professional
stand-up comic. For the past 20
years, I’ve performed at clubs and done
one-nighters in various venues across
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia,
all while keeping my day job. I’m also
one of the cofounders of the Cleveland
Comedy Festival. In fact, I was the
first performer on stage at the very first
festival. My family, friends, nurses,
and doctors tell me that being funny
has helped me survive these past three
years. Maybe it has.

Is cancer funny? No. But we comics look at life from different
angles. We’re seeing the same things you are, but with our heads
cocked a little.

I’ve always found the funny in life
and have shared it to make others laugh.
After I got sick, I didn’t suddenly
become funny. I just had a new topic
– cancer.

Is cancer funny? No. But we comics
look at life from different angles. Like
a photographer who points his lens
low or high or turns it upside down,
we’re seeing the same things you are,
but with our heads cocked a little.

During the first three or four months
after I was diagnosed, I was absorbed in
my sickness. Then I began to realize I
was not going to die right away. I started
thinking about performing again. I knew
I had to develop an entirely new act.
And I knew I had to deal with what was
real – my cancer.

As the second annual Cleveland
Comedy Festival rolled around, I set
my goal to perform for 15 to 20 minutes.
My wife and daughters packed
my wheelchair in the trunk, and we
drove downtown to the festival. I was
introduced, got out of my wheelchair,
and did my 15 to 20 minutes of comedy
to an amazing response. Then I sat back
down in the wheelchair – exhausted.

I’ve gotten stronger since then. I’ve
replaced the wheelchair with a fancy
cane. I’ve done a number of comedy
shows, including two more Cleveland
Comedy Festivals. I’ve written more
jokes about my experience, and I’ve
expanded my set. About once a year,
I have a setback that puts me in the
hospital. But during each visit, I fill a
small notebook with jokes.

If your pain level is a 10, should
anybody really have to ask?

Does looking at the funny side of
sickness make you live longer? I don’t
know. But it does make your life happier.
What I do
know is whenever
I am
introduced,
as I step on the
stage and the
light hits me,
I sit on the
stool and adjust
the mike,
and I look out
over the people
sitting in the dark and start telling
jokes and hearing their laughter, I feel
no pain.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

JD Sidley is a colon cancer survivor and
professional stand-up comic based in Cleveland,
OH. He’s being treated at the Moll
Center at Fairview Hospital, a Cleveland
Clinic hospital. He is also a cofounder of
the Cleveland Comedy Festival. For more
information about the Festival, visit
ClevelandComedyFestival.com.

This article was printed from copingmag.com and was originally published in Coping® with Cancer magazine,
November/December
2012.